


Rishi Rescue

by JGVFHL



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bros Bein Bros, But For Cutup, But I Can't Think of A Cool Name for That, Character Death Fix, Domino Needs Happiness Dammit, Fluff, Gen, It Is Floofy, It's Like Distant Echo, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26215351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JGVFHL/pseuds/JGVFHL
Summary: A tantalizing transmission sends Fives and Echo back to Rishi Moon with the slim hope they're not the only members of Domino Squad who survived the invasion.
Comments: 31
Kudos: 95





	1. Rishi Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by an interaction on Tumblr, so go check out @getmeoffthiskriffingmoon for the origin! I hope you enjoy!

It wasn’t uncommon for Echo and Fives to get comms from Rex out of the blue, even if they were on leave. As Fives would put it, they were his favorites (Whether that was true was up for debate, especially after one of Fives’ pranking sprees). So when Echo answered the comm, Fives was already extracting himself from the sabaac game he’d been playing with Jesse and Kix so he would be ready to leave.

“What was that about?” he asked, grabbing his breastplate and sliding it over his head.

“Didn’t give any particulars,” Echo answered, doing the same. “Just said to meet him in briefing room three as soon as we could.”

“Ooh, fun.”

Echo followed Fives into the room when they arrived. The captain already had the holotable lit up, although there were no images projected just yet.

“You wanted to see us, sir?” Fives asked.

“Yes.” Rex poked a few buttons on the table. “The 212th picked up a transmission just now, and Commander Cody sent it to me to forward to you two.”

Echo exchanged a glance with his batchmate. “...us?”

The look on the captain’s face said he had already listened to the transmission and knew exactly what was going on--or at least enough. “Have a listen, boys.” He pressed play.

The transmission audio was grainy, clearly sent with a weak signal on an old frequency. Echo and Fives stepped forward to hear it clearly.

_ ‘This is CT-4040 from former Rishi Moon outpost--I need evac. I repeat: CT-4040 requesting evac from Rishi Moon outpost.’ _ The audio faded out among static until Rex finally silenced it.

That was all there was for several seconds--silence. The only sound Echo could hear was his heart in his ears. Finally, Fives found his words, but his voice sounded hollow. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”

Rex shrugged. “That’s all there is.”

“How old is this transmission?” Echo asked.

Fives completed his thought. “It could have been floating around space for ages.”

“I don’t know,” the captain answered. “But Commander Cody took the time to trace it before sending it to me, and it was coming from Rishi. Since you two were the last men stationed there, he figured you’d know who was calling.”

“Well, yeah--obviously,” Fives said, gesturing to the holotable.

Echo nodded. Even if they hadn’t heard the designation number, there was no mistaking the voice’s accent. “It’s Cutup.” Rex gave an inquiring look. “He was--he’s part of Domino Squad. He’s our batchmate.”

“What happened to him on Rishi?”

“An eel got him when we escaped,” Fives answered. “Before we met you, sir.”

The memory briefly surfaced in Echo’s mind: a huge maw rearing up, and Cutup’s screams trailing away down a tunnel. It still unsettled him, although it never showed anymore. “How the kriff did he make it?” he said, more to Fives than their captain. “It’s been years.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me he’s survived on that  _ rock _ for over two years?”

“Well, I was thinking you two would want to check it out,” Rex said.

Echo looked to Fives, a silent conversation passing between them in an instant. They had to go. If there was just the slimmest possibility of another Domino Squad survivor, they would go. Frankly, even if Rex weren’t giving permission, Fives would have gone anyway, and Echo would have covered for them. They nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The captain nodded. “I’ve already cleared it with the general,” Rex went on, turning off the holotable. “There a ship waiting for you in hangar bay six. Leave whenever you’re ready.” As he spoke, Echo noticed Fives leaning almost imperceptibly towards the door, eager to dash out and get going as soon as was conventionally appropriate. “Good luck, Domino. Dismissed.”

The final word had barely left the captain’s lips before Fives was out the door. Echo shook his head at his batchmate, but really couldn’t blame him. He was just as excited. When he got back to his bunk, Fives was already kitted up, bucket under one arm, although he was waiting for Echo before going to the armory.

Jesse and Kix looked up from their cards, obviously curious as to what had Fives in such a rush. “What’s going on?” Jesse inquired, watching Echo pull his stuff together.

“Domino’s going back to Rishi,” Echo replied.

“Why?” Kix asked, drawing a card.

Fives gave an abbreviated report of the past ten minutes, shifting back and forth on his feet in anticipation. Echo watched Jesse’s and Kix’s eyebrows climb higher and higher as he talked. When Fives had finished, he turned to Echo. “Ready? Let’s go.”

“Hey, whoa,” Kix said, setting down his cards face down. “Hang on. Are you bringing any medical supplies?”

“Just what we normally carry,” Echo replied. ARC troopers always had a few extra supplies to go with their supplementary medical training.

Kix got to his feet. “You might need more. If he’s been on that rock for that long, who knows what’s happened. I’ll meet you at your ship with a pack.”

“Thanks,” Fives said.

“Hangar bay six,” Echo added before he had to ask.

* * *

In what felt like no time at all, Echo was sitting in the cockpit programming the navicomputer with coordinates he thought he’d never have to see again. Even after years, the scars from Rishi were just that--scars. Most of their other squadron members in Torrent Company knew about Rishi, but not anything more than the bare essentials, if that. It was uncommon for squads from Kamino to stay together for any amount of time in this war, and Domino’s story was far from unique in its fractured, tragic ending, but when it came down to the actual people, to men like Fives and Echo who had lost their closest brothers before even seeing battle, it still stung.

Fives arrived, satisfied by his checks and re-checks of their supplies, and took his seat as co-pilot. “All set?”

“Yep.”

There was a pause. “I can’t believe we’re going back.”

“I can’t believe I still have the damn coordinates memorized.”

Fives looked over at him. “You too?”

Echo nodded.

“Kriff.”

They took a breath. Echo held out a closed fist towards Fives. “Let’s do this.”

Fives bumped their fists together. “Hell yeah,  _ vod _ .”

* * *

The last thing Fives wanted to do was more waiting, but that’s all hyperspace was. A shiny, glowy light show he had to wait through before getting to where he really wanted to be. At least Echo had been smart enough to bring his sabaac cards, so they had something to pass the hours. Truthfully, four hours wasn’t long, but with all the doubt and questions filling their heads, it felt like forever.

“Where even was he all this time?” Fives asked during their sixth sabaac game. “I mean, we blew up the base, it was never rebuilt--where was he?”

Echo shrugged, examining his cards. “Dunno. The tunnels, I guess.”

“With the eels?” He made a noise of disgust. “No thanks.”

“He didn’t have many options. And he was probably injured.”

That silenced Fives. Neither of them had discussed it, but he knew he wasn’t the only one thinking about how they’d last seen Cutup. Or about how alone they’d left him for over two years. He tried not to let the guilt get to him too much, but there was no keeping it from Echo. There was no keeping anything from Echo.

“He didn’t sound injured on the transmission,” he said quietly after a while.

“I agree. That’s a good thing.”

“You think he’ll be angry with us? For leaving?”

Echo shrugged minutely, but he was just as worried. “We’ll deal with it. He wanted evac, and that’s what he’s getting. He didn’t choose who came to get him.”

* * *

Rishi Moon was just as they had left it--a desolate ball of rock floating in space. As the ship approached, the crater left over from the outpost stood out on the surface, although it had been peppered by new craters since then. In an odd twist of fate, the huge crater offered a decent landing zone near the bottom, and they touched down just a few dozen feet from where the landing platform had stood.

They got out and walked to the edge of the canyon nearby, Echo shouldering the med pack and following his brother’s lead. “Where do we start?”

Fives scanned the length of the canyon from where he stood. “Dunno. You figure he stayed close to here.”

“In case the base was ever rebuilt, yeah. Best chance of rescue.”

“But how do we know which wormhole to look down? I didn’t see any signals from the air, did you?”

Echo shook his head. “Nope.”

“If he’d sent the transmission recently, he would have done something to show he was here.”

“But we don’t know how old the transmission is.”

Fives sighed. “I hate this place.”

“Yeah, me too.” Echo tapped Fives’ gauntlet. “Let’s take a walk to check the canyon wall from up here. Maybe we just couldn’t see it from the air.”

After trekking up and down the canyon rim to find nothing, they finally descended into the canyon, Fives still leading, as had become their habit during ARC training. The tension was palpable, increasing every time they passed a chasm in the rock wall. Fives could hear the eels hissing sometimes, but he didn’t see them. He hated not being able to see them. The best he could do was keep one pistol drawn and trust his training had improved his aim enough to hit the mark. He was fairly confident in that.

After more time spend stumbling around in the dark, they were half-way down the wall of the canyon. “This is ridiculous,” Fives grumbled. He felt Echo tap his shoulder, and he turned.

Echo pointed up ahead, just below the rim of the canyon and under a small outcrop in the rock. In the semi-darkness of Rishi Moon, the bright white helmet stuck out blue against the rock. They doubled their pace, moving quickly and quietly along the canyon wall until they were underneath the outcrop. In unison, they attached ascension cables to their DC-17 pistols, aimed at the outcrop, and fired. A short trip later, Fives and Echo clambered onto a small ledge where the helmet stood, hung on a stick.

Fives took a second look at the stick. It was decidedly not a stick. It was the scraps left from a B1 battle droid--the same that had attacked Rishi years earlier. Looking past that, there was a dark hole in the rock face before them, round and regular like the others they had passed on the way.

“It’s definitely Cutup’s,” Echo said. He had taken the helmet down to examine it. “Let’s hope he’s still around.” He returned the helmet to the neck of the droid-stand.

They flicked on the lights on their helmets and plunged in, moving just as quietly inside the tunnel as before. A fork in the path soon appeared.

Out of habit, Fives used ARC sign. “Left or right?”

Echo knelt, examining the gravel and dust on the tunnel floor. Fives knew what he was doing, but he remained standing to keep watch. After a few seconds, Echo stood and tapped Fives’ left shoulder. They went left.

Only a few moments later, something changed. Rishi Moon had just enough of an atmosphere to support oxygen-dependent lifeforms on the surface, but it had few other organic inhabitants. For the most part, Rishi Moon smelled like rock, dust, and space. But down the tunnel, new smells reached Fives’ nose. The first connection his brain made was coming back after a long campaign and finally realizing just how horribly his blacks stink. Unpleasant, but distinctly human.

The scent only became stronger the deeper they went, then the tunnel took a sharp turn. Fives paused there, not knowing what would be around on the other side. He held up a hand and counted down from three… two… one… go. Silently, they both rounded the corner.

In a split second, Fives recognized a large closed chamber, twice as wide, but not much taller, than the tunnel itself. There were little alcoves carved into the rock walls, and pile of something at the far end. That was as far as he got, because when his and Echo’s lights landed on the pile of something, the something moved and cried out.

“Arrgh! Off! Off, Force--dammit, turn it  _ off! _ ” As the figure moved, Fives caught a flash of white duraplast. Echo flicked his light off, then smacked Fives’ arm to jolt him into doing the same. Words had deserted them both.

Fives would have to be deaf not to recognize that accent. Cutup was alive.

Their batchmate grumbled under his breath as he got to his feet. Now in complete darkness, Fives had to rely on hearing more than anything. Fortunately, ARC training covered that to an extent.

“My transmission went through, then?” Cutup asked, the discomfort from the bright lights still in his voice. “I’m CT-4040; I called for an evac?”

“We know,” Echo said, finding his voice, although it was a little shaky.

“Well, let’s go. I’m sick of this place.”

Fives heard him take a couple steps. “Cutup,” he blurted, lacking anything else to say. He knew it would stop him, though. The only people who knew Cutup’s name were Domino Squad, and Nubs and O’Niner on Rishi outpost.

There was a pause. Fives wished he could see the expression on his batchmate’s face. “How… do you know my name?”

Out of habit, Fives turned his head to where he knew Echo was, and he had a feeling Echo had done the same to him. Echo spoke. “We were around when you got it, Cutup. From Bric, our trainer.”

After a nother pause, Cutup asked, “Who are you?” His voice had shrunk, but there was a note of hope in it.

“We’re Domino Squad. Or what’s left of it,” Fives answered, proud he could still keep his voice steady. “I’m Fives. That’s Echo. We’re gonna take you home.”

When Cutup spoke next, they could hear the smile on his face. “You made it! You made it off!” And he laughed. There was the sound of feet scuffing the stone floor, then Cutup threw his arms around their shoulders, hugging them both. Fives and Echo were too shocked to reciprocate before he pulled back, his hands resting on their pauldrons. “Wait—ARC troopers? You made it to kriffing ARC troopers?”

“Force, you have not had a shower in decades,” Fives said before he could stop himself.

Echo chuckled. “You’re one to talk.”

“I took one yesterday,” he shot back. “Are we getting out of here or what?”

“Please!” Cutup walked between them and grabbed their arms, dragging them back the way they had come.

It took a second for either Fives or Echo to find words to protest the manhandling, but Echo eventually did. “We can walk on our own, you know.”

Cutup scoffed. “You’re both blind as bats in here, and you know it.” Once they got past the fork in the tunnel, though, he released them, hurrying to the ledge outside.

Outside, they finally got a good look at him. Fives was glad his helmet was still on. He couldn’t stop the cocktail of pity, guilt, and heartbreak from showing on his face, but at least Cutup couldn’t see that through the visor. He looked painfully thin, and it was perfectly clear in the way his blacks and remaining armor hung from his frame. He took his helmet down in bony hands, and turned to them, smiling. A jagged scar ran up the right side of his face, disappearing into his wild hair, which, in turn, seemed to match the beard engulfing the lower half of his face. But he was smiling, and Fives found he couldn’t ask for much else.

Echo gestured to his helmet. “Does that even fit over the mane you’ve got, there, Cut?”

He turned it around in his hands. “Ah… no, not really. But it’s how I got my transmission out there, eventually.”

“How long ago did you send it?” Fives asked.

“I recorded it about a year ago,” he explained. “I’d send it out again every few rotations, hoping someone would pick it up. Even if it was the Seppies, I didn’t care.”

“Well, we’re a hell of a lot better then Seps,” Fives said.

Cutup’s smile widened. “Damn right you are.”

* * *

Cutup had always liked to run his mouth, even when it got him in trouble. But after two years of isolation, Echo was pretty sure he never wanted to stop talking ever again. He’d barely stopped to breathe the entire walk back to the ship--a walk his shortcuts had helpfully shortened for them. Not that Echo minded, really. He’d missed his batchmates, although the pain from losing them had shrunk over the years, and hearing Cutup’s voice again was amazing all by itself.

When they got back to the ship, Echo took his helmet off from habit and started programming the navicomputer to get them back to the  _ Resolute _ . He only noticed after a few seconds that Cutup had stopped talking.

He finished his task and turned around in his chair. Cutup was holding Fives’ helmet--probably to examine the Rishi eel painted there--but now he was looking at his two brothers, at faces he hadn’t seen in far too long.

Fives’ mouth turned up at one corner, and he put a hand on his shoulder. “We missed you too, Cutup.”

Cutup nodded dumbly, his gaze drifting to the landscape visible through the front window of the ship. “I can’t believe I’m really getting out of here.”

“You’d better believe it,” Echo said, swiveling his chair back around as Fives took his seat beside him. “501st, here we come.”

For the first couple of hours of hyperspace travel, all Cutup wanted was to hear about Fives and Echo’s lives, including and after Rishi. All the missions, all the battles, especially how they became ARC troopers. They told him everything, right down the smallest details, the little squabbles in the squadron, anything they could think of to tell him. He listened intently, drinking in human contact like a sponge, but after that, his energy dimmed. Not in a bad way, but he was tired. Echo imagined he couldn’t have slept well on Rishi Moon on a good day, so it wasn’t surprising that when he finally felt safe, his body started showing the exhaustion.

He slept the rest of the trip until Fives finally nudged him awake just before they came out of hyperspace to the welcoming sight of the  _ Resolute _ . “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,  _ vod, _ ” he said as they maneuvered into the hangar bay.

“Literally,” Echo added from the pilot’s seat.

To their surprise, most of their squadron were waiting in the hangar to meet them as they descended the ramp. Even Rex had found the time to stop by. Jesse and Kix must have told the others what Fives had related to them. Another member of Domino Squad was definitely something to see. Unfortunately, the pressure of prying eyes was not something Cutup had experienced in years, and Fives could tell he didn’t like it.

Rex stepped ahead of the others, forming a barrier in front of their invasive curiosity. “I take it the rescue was a success,” he said. He added, specifically to Cutup, “Welcome back, trooper.”

“Thank you, sir,” Cutup replied, instantly recognizing Rex’s authority.

“We’ll look after him, sir,” Echo said, resting an almost protective arm on Cutup’s shoulder.

“Oh, I know you will,” the captain said. “Make sure he gets to the medbay for a physical, though.”

“We said we’d look after him,” Fives repeated, mirroring Echo’s gesture. “But I think we’ll be doing Kix a favor by getting him to a ‘fresher before the medbay.”

“I will not stand in your way.”

* * *

Echo waited with Fives outside the ‘fresher for Cutup, who was taking a much-needed shower for the first time in years. As promised, Rex had kept the rest of their squadron at bay for now, leaving Domino Squad to tend to their own. Fives had grabbed his mess kit so Cutup could clean his face up after his shower.

“He’s lucky it’s an odd time for showers,” Fives remarked. “He’s been in there for ages.”

“He needed it,” Echo replied.

“Oh, absolutely. Smelled worse than a dead kriffing bantha.”

“Dead kriffing bantha yourself, Fives.” The time in isolation had not dulled Cutup’s wit, clearly.

Fives took it in stride. “Thank the Maker, I thought you’d drown in there.”

Echo rolled his eyes. Fives and Cutup were always up for a verbal spar. “You two are quite the pair.”

“Oh, you missed this, Echo,” Cutup smiled. He looked so much better now than when they’d found him. True, his hair was still closer in appearance to a bird’s nest than anything else, but clean blacks and a hot shower had helped immensely.

“Of course I did,” Echo replied, ruffling his brother’s wild hair.

Fives put an arm around his shoulders and tugged him towards the sinks. “Now, I know my batchmate’s under there somewhere, wookie. Let’s go.”

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Cutup said. “When did Echo get the stick out of his  _ shebs _ ?” Echo rolled his eyes, still smiling. Fives just threw his head back and laughed. “No, I’m serious--”

“I keep it around in case someone needs a thrashing,” Echo warned.

* * *

By the time Cutup was recognizable as a human again, and Domino had made it back to their bunks where the rest of the squadron was waiting, he was exhausted again. The short nap during hyperspace had helped, but it was barely enough to combat the urge to curl up in a blanket--an actual blanket--and sleep for the next week. He sat down between his batchmates to meet the rest of their squadron, leaning into Fives when he put an arm around him. He’d need reminders of everyone’s names in the morning, but he nodded along as his brothers introduced themselves.

“So, are you actually gonna be joining us? The squadron?” Hardcase asked after introductions. Cutup knew he couldn’t be the only one thinking Hevy had reincarnated in front of him.

“Do we get Domino Triplets?” Jesse added, rubbing his hands together.

“Domino what?” Cutup said, glancing at his batchmates.

Echo shrugged. “People sometimes call Fives and me Domino Twins.”

“We’re clones.”

“Yeah, but it sounds cool,” Fives argued.

From his bunk, Dogma put in, “You know only the captain can finalize transfers into Torrent.” The way he said it, almost like a recitation, brought back memories of Echo staying up to re-read the reg manuals on Rishi.

“We are down a man, though,” Tup, sitting next to Dogma, pointed out. He and Dogma looked the youngest out of the brothers there. “And Captain Rex loves Domino.”

“Really?” Cutup narrowed his eyes. “What’d you two do to get in his good graces?”

“Oh, they go in and out of his good graces all day,” Jesse grinned. “Depends on how bored Fives is and how much of an enabler Echo wants to be.”

“Hey, you help,” Fives pointed out, gesturing to Jesse and Hardcase, who were both grinning ear-to-ear. “Don’t pin this all on me.”

“Technically--”

“I don’t want to hear it, Dogma.”

“--you are the ARC here, you would have to take responsibility for a subordinate’s actions.”

“... Thank you, Dogma.”

Cutup smiled tiredly, drawing his knees to his chest so he could rest his chin on them. He’d missed this. He’d missed this so damn much. Against his desires, his eyelids started to droop closed. Echo gently nudged him awake. “I’m awake,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

Fives smiled and put a hand on his head. “Yeah, not for much longer, though. Kix, you’d better take him while he’s still conscious.”

“When did you become such a mother hen, Fives?” he said, hauling himself to his feet to follow the medic.

“Since Rishi,” Echo answered.

“You weren’t always like that?” Jesse asked.

Fives declined to answer, instead saying, “I am now, and sleep cycle’s just around the corner, and I don’t see anyone getting ready for bed. What’s the problem with that?”

“Sleep is for the weak!”

“Hardcase, shut the kriff up--Kix, what have you been telling him?”

The medic blinked. “Sleep is for the weak,” he deadpanned, making Fives frown slightly.

“You sure you’re awake enough to get through Cutup’s physical  _ and _ psych evals?” Echo asked, raising an eyebrow. “If he needs to slap you awake, he’ll do it.”

“I’m good,” Kix replied. To Cutup, he added, “And I have sedatives and no reservations about using them. No slapping the medic.”

Cutup nodded. “‘Course.” He started to follow Kix out of the barracks when Echo and Fives intercepted him to sandwich him in a hug.

“It’ll be lights out by the time you get back, so,” Fives said, resting the side of his face against his head.

“Good night hug,” Echo completed.

“Feel free to bunk over with one of us, too, until you get your own.”

“I’m up top, Fives is the monster under the bed.” He felt Fives smack Echo upside the head.

Cutup nodded wordlessly and buried his face in Fives’ shoulder, feeling Echo rest his forehead against the back of his head. A lump of emotions welled up in his throat, because it all just felt so safe. There was no need to jump at every noise or shift in the air. There was no fear that any next day would be his last, or the fear he’d starve before his next meal. He was warm and safe and surrounded by his family. It felt more normal than any of the grey monotony Rishi Moon could offer. It felt like home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some friends of mine convinced me to write an extension of Cutup's story. How do things change now that Echo and Fives aren't the only Dominoes left?

LIfe with the 501st was wonderfully hectic. Rishi Moon’s sinister unpredictability had kept Cutup on his toes, true, but it had felt malicious. But with the missions and the shenanigans in between the missions, Cutup was absolutely loving his second chance. Some days, the only thing reminding him he hadn’t died and gone to paradise was the absence of Hevy and Droidbait.

The captain had approved Cutup’s transfer into Torrent company and into his batchmates’ squadron, much to their delight. The squadron promptly altered their sleeping arrangements to give Cutup the top bunk next to Echo’s. Jesse was below him, with Hardcase, Kix, Tup, and Dogma in the next pairs of bunks over. Despite now having his own bunk, Cutup still slept over with either Fives or Echo regularly. He’d missed them, and he didn’t get as much time with them as he’d have liked because they were ARCs. It was weird, having his batchmates outrank him.

It took months to get back into any sort of fighting condition. Kix had been astonished he didn’t have any permanent damage from the malnutrition and overall lack of hygiene and care he had suffered on the moon. But, eventually, Cutup was looking less like a skeleton and more like a proper trooper. On the subject of looks, the captain had dropped by after a few days of his arrival with a set of shiny white armor--and a can of paint. Cutup hadn’t expected to paint so soon.

“Domino got to paint as soon as they got onboard, given the… ordeal on Rishi Moon,” he had explained, Fives and Echo nodding to back him up. “Seems only fair you get the same treatment.”

Cutup had listened to Fives and Echo’s stories of painting their armor. The small tribute to Hevy was sweet; it wasn’t something Cutup wanted on his armor, though. He’d made peace with the others’ deaths a long time ago. He did include the striped design on his left thigh plate: a swath of blue with five white stripes horizontally across it; but this time, there were two white stripes grouped together at the top, and three together at the bottom. Things had changed.

He’d taken a bit longer to finish the paint job, but eventually, he was satisfied. The front of his greaves were solid blue; a wide diagonal stripe ran from the right shoulder of chestplate to the bottom left; two Rishi eels ran up the outsides of his arms, their heads on his shoulder bells; and his helmet was almost bare, except for the blue crest and the five blue dots on the back, arranged for Domino squad.

* * *

Fives and Echo had been away on their “secret mission” for over a week now, along with Captain Rex, Generals Skywalker and Kenobi, and Commander Tano. The 501st had been idle in the meantime, lacking its typical leadership. The men were enjoying their not-quite-leave, but Cutup was a little on edge without his batchmates. He hadn’t been away from them this long in months. He felt a little silly at how uneasy he was, but he didn’t like not having them around.

The sabacc games with the squadron and the rest of the company did serve as good distractions, though. Cutup had always been a good player on Kamino, but he’d gotten so much better with other opponents to battle. He was so engrossed with the current game against Jesse, Nax, and Tup, he almost missed his comm going off. He laid his cards down and stretched to reach it. How the hell had it gotten under Fives’ bunk?

“Back already, sir?” It was the captain. The other players’ heads all snapped up at the words.

“Cutup, yeah, we just got onboard. Come down to the hangar, please. Alone.”

Alone? “Of course, sir, right away.”

“Alone?” Jesse repeated.

Cutup shrugged. “Dunno.” He got to his feet and hurried out of the barracks.

When he got to the hangar, he found the docking bay quickly by the flashes of 212th orange. Commander Cody and a few of his men were still there with their general. General Skywalker, Commander Tano, and Captain Rex were standing by as well. A few 501st troopers were walking away, looking… spent.

The captain walked over to meet him. “Come with me,” he said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Something felt off. Cutup went with him to the ship that had docked there, the doors still open.

“Sir,” Cutup said quietly, unable to keep the question any longer, “is everything alright?” The look on his captain’s face didn’t look alright.

The captain paused at the entrance. “This mission wasn’t to be taken on lightly,” he said, nodding for Cutup to step in. Cutup looked around the empty hull--wait. Not empty. Fives sat against the back wall, still in full kit, helmet on, looking like he’d fallen there. But it was just Fives. Cutup looked back at the captain, not sure what he was looking for. “We didn’t bring everyone home, Cutup. I’m sorry.”

For a second, he was frozen to the spot, staring at Fives’ deflated posture ahead of him. But it only lasted a second, then he was rushing to his batchmate’s side and gently lifting the helmet off his head. “Hey, Fives. Hey, I’m here now, okay?”

Fives was a wreck. He’d kept his helmet on to hide it. There were no tears, although his eyes were red-rimmed and glassy. Force, it looked like he’d been gutted. When his helmet had been removed, he finally moved to look up at Cutup. That was when the realization set in. Some part of Cutup had still wanted to believe this wasn’t happening, that he wasn’t seeing this, that his batchmates were pulling some stupid prank. But seeing the absolute devastation on Fives’ face left little room for speculation. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Cut, I’m so sorry.”

Cutup wrapped his arms around him and held on as tightly as he could. “Sh, you don’t have to do that,” he said, still to much in shock to even cry.

Fives hugged back desperately. “No, no, I should’ve brought him back. I should’ve brought him home for you--I should’ve…  _ done something _ ,” he said. “You deserved more time--” His voice finally broke, dissolving into silent crying.

He was right, in a way. They had deserved more time. After the two years of hell on Rishi Moon, he had deserved more time with his batchmates. But this was war. Just because he deserved it didn’t mean he would get it.

* * *

The barracks were quiet onboard the  _ Resolute _ as the flagship drifted above the shadowy planet below. It was Torrent’s first sleep cycle after Umbara, and no one was sleeping. No one was even thinking about sleep. The squadron had gathered in front of Hardcase and Dogma’s bunks. It was a little tradition in Torrent: when a brother died, the others gathered to share a memory of them, making remembering them a collective duty--part of everyone. They had already finished that. No one wanted to move from the clump. They all felt safer crowded by their family.

Cutup sat with an arm around Jesse, sort of sharing him with Kix. He couldn’t imagine being a medic right now. Kix and Coric had barely spoken since leaving the surface, still going over how many brothers they would have, could have, should have saved. It had been a bloodbath under Krell’s command. Fives was on his other side, holding his hand tightly. Tup was curled up in his lap, a shaking ball of repressed emotion. Losing Dogma had hit him hard.

After an unusually silent silence, Tup’s small voice captured the squadron’s attention. “Can we still trust the general?”

The other squadron members exchanged worried glances, most looking to Nax, Coric, and Fives for their senior opinion. Coric wasn’t answering. Nax bit his lip, clearly not in much of a mood to talk either. Fives sighed, adjusting his arm around Tup’s shoulders. “Of course we can. General Skywalker cares about his men--about us. This--what happened down there--that’s not normal. None of it was, and I stand by every decision we made down there to keep ourselves alive in those circumstances. If we didn’t know before, we know now: the Jedi aren’t perfect. But we’ve got a good one, I can tell you that.”

There was a slight release of the tension hanging in the air. 

“Thank you for that, Fives.” Everyone’s heads swiveled to Captain Rex, who had approached silently. HIs sudden appearance made some of them jump. Cutup felt Fives squeeze his hand.

“Of course, sir.”

“How are you boys holding up?”

“Best we can, sir,” Cutup replied.

Their captain nodded solemnly. “I know it’ll be a while before any of us can get some decent sleep in,” he said in a gentler tone than he normally used. “But try to find a way to relax. Try to find a place to put this. We’re built to handle stress, and we’ve been through a lot of it this campaign. I have no doubt you boys will come out of this, but it won’t happen all at once. Don’t force it. Ask for help if you need it. Now’s not the time to be soldiering through this, understood?” His gaze swept the group, pausing ever so slightly on Fives, Kix, and Coric.

The squadron bobbed their heads and mumbled a quiet, “Yes, sir.”

The captain nodded back and turned to leave, but Fives stopped him. “Sir. We just finished our remembrances for ‘Case and Dogma. Wanna add something?”

He paused, a sad smile forming on his face. “I remember it took Dogma ages to paint his kit. Didn’t want to stand out too much, didn’t want to look shiny--took him almost a week after his first mission with us. Finally figured it might seem disloyal not to do something.”

From where he sat, Cutup watched Tup squeeze his eyes shut and press himself closer to Fives. It was taking so much strength not to break down, which he would eventually, but he didn’t want to do it in front of the captain. Fives rested his chin on his head.

“And of course, I remember I was the one who gave Hardcase his first taste of a Z-6,” Captain Rex went on. “Never seen the kid so happy before. Face lit up like Coruscant just holding the thing.” He cleared his throat, clasping his hands behind his back. “Gonna miss those two.”

There were some mumbles of agreement, then the captain moved on to the next squadron. Cutup looked over to Fives. Hardcase’s death had hit a little close to home for them both, having known how similar he had been to Hevy. It was bad enough Cutup had to watch his brother blow himself up. No one should have to watch that twice.

Right now, Fives’ focus was Tup, but Cutup knew him well enough by now to know that was a distraction. Making Tup feel better let him forget it felt like he’d lost a batchmate all over again. Cutup wasn’t exactly innocent of this either, as he sat there holding onto Jesse. But at least Fives wasn’t alone. He had Cutup, who knew exactly what was playing through his head non-stop.

Cutup squeezed his hand, and Fives turned to look at him. He smiled as best he could.  _ I’m here. _ His batchmate replied with a small smile and a squeeze back.  _ Me too. _

* * *

Fives was back from Kamino. Cutup was lucky to have seen his comm light blinking on his arm, because 79s was loud and bright, and, well… alcohol. As soon as he recognized the frequency, he tapped Jesse’s shoulder. “Gotta take this.”

He made his way outside, where it was a least a little quieter, even though there were still troopers wandering around in varying states of inebriation.

“Hey, Fives.”

“Hey, Cut’.” His batchmate didn’t sound like himself. He sounded… hollow.

“What’s up? Why d’you sound like that?” Fives hesitated. Cutup guessed. “Did Tup not make it?”

After another pause, Fives replied, “No. He--they had to--yeah.”

“I’m so sorry. We were all worried about the kid. You wanna meet up, talk?”

“Yeah, where are you?”

“Outside 79s. Can I meet you in the middle?”

“Nah, I’m not too far.”

So he waited, taking a seat on a supply crate to the side of the main entrance. It felt like a long wait, but it couldn’t have been too long. When he caught sight of the familiar black and grey pauldrons and that stupid goatee Fives loved so much, he got up and walked over.

He looked tired. Without a word, Cutup pulled him into a hug that was gratefully returned. Fives had developed a soft spot for Tup after Umbara, so Cutup could imagine how much he was hurting.

“Thanks.”

“Hey, I know when my brother needs a hug.” Cutup pulled back and offered a smile. “What can you tell me?”

They moved back to where Cutup had sat to wait, and Fives unraveled the whole story. “I should have tried harder,” Fives said when it was finished. “I should have tried harder so they wouldn’t kill him. They could’ve taken it out first--I should have--” He shook his head.

“That’s breaking a lot of regulations, even for you, Fives,” Cutup reminded him.

“Still! We’re not supposed to have tumors. So why did Tup? They scanned me too, you know. And I overheard Nala Se ordering the droid about ignoring anomalies on the scan--on  _ my _ scan, which they never let me see, of course.”

“But they cleared you.”

Fives nodded. “Yeah. Doesn’t mean I’m not worried.”

“You could have Kix redo the scan,” Cutup offered. “He’s got the same machines, hasn’t he? Especially now we’re on Coruscant.”

Fives shrugged, fidgeting with his hands. “I guess.” Cutup offered him a hand to hold, knowing he was too upset right now for any kind of reasoning. He took it. “I just… I feel like I failed him, you know? He died, and we didn’t even know what was wrong with him.That just feels wrong.”

“Yeah, that’s messed up.”

“I swear that doctor knows more than she was letting on, though.”

Cutup narrowed his eyes. “How do you mean?”

“I dunno… She was dismissive. I saw through the window into Tup’s room, and General Ti was there. But Nala Se wasn’t even listening to her, I could tell. Just their body language. And when she did my scan, she wouldn’t even answer my questions about why a clone would even  _ have _ a tumor.” He threw his hands in the air in disgust--including Cutup’s hand. “It’s like she didn’t want to find out. Or she already knew what it was.”

“You’ve never liked Nala Se.”

“No! I’ve never liked Nala Se. And right now, I trust her about as far as I can kick her. She killed Tup!” He sighed.

Cutup leaned over and put his forehead against Fives’ temple. “But you’re here,” he reminded him. “You can fight for him. I will too, so will the rest of the squadron. Tup won’t be forgotten anytime soon, and we’ll do what we can to get him some peace, yeah?”

Fives leaned into the gesture. “Yeah.” After a moment of quiet, he said, “I could have looked into it. I had enough time to myself; I could have convinced that medical droid to take out the tumor anyway.”

“What stopped you?”

“I had a feeling I was probably messing with something a lot bigger than me. Figured I could get in pretty big trouble for it.”

Cutup scoffed. “And?”

Fives hummed a note of amusement. “Yeah, I know. I just… I didn’t want to leave you alone again. You’ve had enough of that.”

“Oh.” He hadn’t expected that. “Thanks, I guess.” After what felt like enough time for the subject to settle, he asked, “Do you want some good news?”

Fives sat up and looked at him. “Absolutely.”

Cutup allowed himself a smile. “It came through while you were gone. Jess and I are gonna be ARC troopers.”

It took a couple seconds for the news to sink in, but when it did, a big smile broke across Fives’ face. “Really? Both of you?”

“Yeah, both of us.”

“Yes!” He let go of Cutup’s hand so he could hug him properly, ruffling his hair and planting a kiss on top of it. “Kriffin’ ARC trooper, hells yeah. I’m proud of you.”

Cutup would have been beaming if not for the heavy news about Tup. He was still smiling, though. “Jesse and Kix are inside, if you want to pass on the congratulations.”

Fives nodded eagerly, getting to his feet. “Of course I do! Jesse’s wanted to go ARC since he caught a whiff of mine and Echo’s pauldrons, I swear.”

* * *

Cutup was still cursing his luck, laid up in the medbay instead of going with Fives to Skako Minor to see if the transmission they’d found on Anaxis was really Echo. He’d been here for almost two standard days now, still hooked up to some serious painkillers and asleep half the time. He hated being stuck in the medbay. He’d never liked it, but after ARC training, he really just didn’t belong here.

Jesse’s head poked around the corner of his “room.” The medbay on the base was a series of dividing screens between the beds and curtains at the entrances. “Hey, need someone to share some reports with,” he said, holding up a datapad. He’d been stopping by over the past two days to check on him. They were pretty close after ARC training.

“What?” Cutup squinted. He’d just woken up a few minutes ago, so he was still groggy.

Jesse pulled up the small stool from the corner. “With Rex and Fives away, I’ve got to make up for some of their work. And with you out of commission--”

Cutup grumbled, “I’m fine.”

“--I’ve got a chunk of work to do, and Kix is too busy to hold a conversation.”

Cutup turned his head to watch the datapad as Jesse started going through the reports. They were relatively simple--mostly casualty reports and supply checks. “That’s the easy stuff.”

Jesse nodded. “Yep. Left the worst of it for someone else.”

“That’s my job.”

“You’re doing it perfectly. You’re not doing any work.”

“I’m fine! All I’ve got--”

“--is some serious internal bruising and some cracked ribs,” Jesse finished. “Yeah, you’re a picture of health, Cut.”

“Just because it hurts to breathe doesn’t mean I can’t file some bloody reports, Jess.”

Jesse smiled and shook his head, knowing arguing was pointless. They stayed in contented quiet for several minutes. Every once in a while, Jesse would hold the datapad so Cutup could see it to double-check its veracity. Eventually, they were interrupted by Kix wheeling a second bed into the space.

“Hey, what’s that?” Cutup asked, lifting his head as far as was comfortable to see.

Kix positioned the bed to the right of Cutup’s. “You’re getting company.”

Jesse was just as curious. “Did the other rooms fill up?”

“No.” Kix set about setting up a second monitor.

Jesse set the datapad on Cutup’s bed. “You’re not telling us something, Kix.”

“Yep."

“What aren’t you telling us?” Cutup demanded. The medic just gave an infuriating smile and left, leaving the curtain half open. “What the--karking--what’s he not telling us?”

Jesse shrugged, getting up to look outside. He turned back to Cutup. “Dunno. Kix is Kix.”

He was half-way back to the stool when they both heard someone call, “Hey, Domino squad!” In the next moment, Fives walked in, beaming. One arm was wrapped tightly around the man hanging onto his shoulder.

Cutup struggled to sit up, ultimately falling back onto the pillows from the pain. Echo. Jesse grabbed the datapad and moved out of the room, knowing Cutup wanted some time with his batchmates. Fives patted his shoulder as he passed, but his attention was on Cutup.

“Got a present for you, Cut,” he grinned, walking with Echo to Cutup’s bedside.

Echo smiled weakly. He looked half-dead. “Hey, Cutup.” Fives let him sit, and Cutup was immediately reaching out for a hug.

“Kriffing hell, Echo, you look worse than me after Rishi,” he said, holding him tightly and feeling every rib and vertebra poking through his brother’s skin, not to mention the wires and tubes and his legs and arm.

“It looks worse than it is, promise,” he replied, sinking into the hug. His voice was hoarse, like he hadn’t used it in… Cutup didn’t want to think about it.

Cutup felt the bed dip on his other side as Fives sat down. He was practically glowing, he was so happy. Cutup felt the same, although the dull pain through his chest and abdomen put a bit of a damper on the moment. “If you say so,” he replied, having to help Echo sit up when he let go. He was so weak.

Kix came in then. “Echo. In bed, now.”

Echo snorted. “Good to see you too, Kix.”

“I need to get started on your physical, and that could take hours.”

“Longer than mine took after Rishi?” Cutup asked. His had taken over two hours.

“Is it a competition?”

Fives smiled. “Have you  _ met _ Cutup? Of course it is.” He got up and rounded the bed to help Echo into the neighboring one, adding quietly, “Take it easy,  _ vod _ , I got you.”

Once Echo was laid out in bed and Kix had him hooked up to the monitor, the medic helped Fives push the beds closer together. Fives took the stool Jesse had used and brought it to the other side of Cutup’s bed, leaning his forearms on the bed by Cutup’s head. Kix busied himself starting Echo’s physical.

Echo reached his good arm over towards Cutup. “Heard you and Jesse made ARC troopers,” he smiled.

Cutup reached out and clasped his hand, holding tight to the warmth in it. “‘Course we did.”

“Shame you’re stuck here in your blacks, then, huh?”

He groaned. “I know… I could make Fives bring my pauldrons and kama in.”

“Like hell you could,” Fives replied.

Echo’s smile widened and he squeezed Cutup’s hand. “That’s okay. I’ll wait until you can show it off yourself.”

Kix maneuvered into the small gap between the beds. “Sorry to break it up. He needs an IV, and it kinda has to be this arm.”

Cutup pulled his hand back, but as he did so, he noticed some reluctance in Echo letting go. Looking in his brother’s eyes, he saw fear. “It’s okay, Echo,” he said, trying to reassure him. He looked at all the things sticking out his brother’s body: all the tubes, the studs, the machinery--of course he wouldn’t want an IV.

Kix was sympathetic. “I’m sorry. I’ll be as fast as I can. You need this, Echo.”

As Kix started cleaning the space on Echo’s arm and applying the tourniquet, Fives and Cutup could see their batchmate’s anxiety steadily increase. Kix glanced over at the other two, silently asking them to do something.

Fives put his arm out across Cutup’s chest. “Hey, Echo. Over here,  _ vod _ ,” he said, snapping his fingers. “Look at us, yeah?”

“You’re okay, Echo,” Cutup added, extending his arm as well. “You got out. You got out, remember?”

Echo’s heart rate was climbing spectacularly, but he tore his eyes away from his arm to look at them.

“There we go,” Fives smiled. “See? We’re here.”

“Breathe, Echo.”

“You wanna breathe with us?” They’d all been taught breathing techniques as part of ARC training, and all the troopers learned something of the kind in regards to shooting. Quickly, Cutup aligned his breathing with Fives, taking slow breaths and holding for a second before letting them go. Echo did his best to follow along, his thin chest visibly shaking as he did so. But it worked; his heart rate went down, and Kix nodded his thanks to them as he finished connecting the IV.

“That’s all for now,” Kix said, tapping away on his datapad. “You need to rest,” he told Echo. He dug a blanket out from the crate in the corner and spread it over him. “Welcome back, Echo,” he said, resting a hand on his shoulder before heading out.

After Kix had gone, Fives took his stool and moved into the gap between the beds so he could reach both of them. He put a hand against Echo’s face. “See? We’ve got you.”

Echo gave him a weak smile. Cutup could see he was trembling, but he couldn’t tell if that was from cold or residual adrenaline from the IV placement. “I think this means it’s your turn,” he replied shakily.

“My turn to what?”

Cutup smirked. “Your turn to get stuck somewhere horrible and have us rescue you.”

“Oh.” Fives’ smile wasn’t quite genuine. There was still some remaining guilt about leaving Echo behind at the Citadel. “I’ll make sure to give you two a heads up about it.”

Cutup scoffed. “Yeah, that’d be great, then we can tie you down so it doesn’t happen.”

Fives shook his head, still smiling. “I’m gonna go get cleaned up,” he said. “But I’ll be back.” He leaned over to press his forehead to Echo’s, who lifted his chin to bump their noses together briefly. “Missed you.”

Echo smiled as he pulled back and stood up. “Missed you, too,  _ di’kut _ ,”

He reached over and ruffled Cutup’s hair until his hand was batted away. “You both need some rest, so don’t rile each other up,” he warned as he headed towards the curtain.

“Hey, Fives, can I tell Echo about Thrace?”

“Don’t you kriffing dare.”

“Who’s Thrace?”

“Fives’ boyfriend for like three days.”

“Fives had--you got a boyfriend without me?”

“Only for three days.”

“Oh, I am all ears.”

Fives muttered darkly under his breath as he left. Cutup looked over at Echo, and they both started laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you are, a taste of my tooth-rotting fluff to top off the bits of angst in here. Thus I have concluded Cutup's story. Obviously, this continues with them figuring out the chips (bc Fives wasn't going to leave it alone) and then the garbage compactor eats Palpatine or something idk. Anyway! Hope you enjoyed it. 💙

**Author's Note:**

> I definitely could have made this more in-depth but I just wanted the fluff. Like I could have included a scene of Cutup being an absolute badass taking down an eel because he's been there for so long he knows exactly how to deal with it. But. It was already like 9 pages long so I skipped it. Feel free to imagine it!


End file.
